Dell, EMC take time to demystify the SAN

Based on increasing industry demand, Dell and EMC have announced today that they are taking joint steps to `Demystify the SAN` by driving down complexity and exposing the true benefits of the technology.

Both EMC and Dell already enjoy a long relationship in the storage arena, and the joint production of products in this market has led to a better understanding of customer demands and technology needs. This `partnership` has also led to customers benefiting from superior support, value and performance through the collective minds of two of the world`s largest vendors in their respective fields.

Brendan McAravey, Head of Enterprise at Dell South Africa, says: "There is a huge uptake in demand for storage in the local market at present, which is as a direct result of customers starting to understand the need for technology in their businesses. Working together with EMC, Dell is able to simplify what is often a complex technology area and by `demystifying the SAN` is positioned to allow customers to unlock the true value of storage solutions."

The joint SAN message from the companies is based on the fact that technology in the way of servers and storage has become an unmanageable sprawl of boxes, cluttering the server room and creating a greater need for risk assessment. In order to address the customer`s need to consolidate this increasingly unwieldy environment, vendors have provided technology solutions like the SAN.

A sometimes completely misunderstood animal, the SAN has the simple advantage of centralising your storage, giving you the power to manage this experience in a smaller environment. The knock-on effect of this is the ability to drive down the costs of infrastructure to enable companies to manage their environments effectively.

Alex Robertson, Technology Solutions manager at EMC SA, says: "Many customers understand what a SAN is, but have no real concept of the true benefits the technology can bring to their business. It is important that, as a vendor specialising in storage technologies, we can provide customers with benchmarks and return on investment case studies which dispel the myth that the SAN is an unmanageable, badly behaved animal.

"It is because of these misconceptions in the market, possibly fuelled by inferior technology offerings, that together with Dell we will be providing customers with a view of the pitfalls in their own businesses and what strategies they should be deploying for an effective, well-defined disaster recovery and backup plan."